


Faded Dream

by LovesWifi



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Dystopia, F/M, Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:47:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27734053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LovesWifi/pseuds/LovesWifi
Summary: I was challenged to write using my characters from my children’s book. (My children’s book is what if a dino named Loaf was Tommy’s pet. His mum said no and got him a dog name butter)
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character
Kudos: 5





	Faded Dream

Tommy wished he could go back to the days of sitting on the floor of the kitchen as his mum cooked dinner. He longed to go back to the times when he had the outlook on life to imagine such childish things such as a dino named Loaf. How could he have been so stupid to think that he would be able to have a dinosaur as a pet? He sighs peering around the corner he had been standing by. He was waiting for Mutaglopian to slump by so he could get up to his secret home. When the coast is clear he climbs up a familiar wall that leads up to the top building. 

He sighs looking over the desolate wasteland that was now the modern world, it was sunrise and it was almost serene. He wonders sometimes what it would have been like had he the befallen the same fate as the majority of humanity. He takes one last look before continuing to climb to the hole in the wall that leads to his makeshift home. 

When he reaches the hole he pulls himself in and plops down of the scraps of blankets that he called his bed. He knew that he would have to move soon from what he had scouted, the food supply here was diminishing quite quick. He would move at dusk later that day, he would need the cover of night to stay hidden. Just as the sun had finished rising, Tommy tucked himself under his blankets and closed his eyes, preparing himself for the restless sleep that was sure to ensue.

He woke to the groans of Glopians that were wandering around the bottom of the building. He sighs realizing there was no point in trying to fall back asleep now it was almost dusk anyway. He moved to roll up his blankets and grab whatever remaining food he had laying around. He packed his bag climbed out of the hole in the wall and up towards the roof to avoid the Glopians below, which would surely devour him if he were to make contact with them. That is what happened to his dog, Butter, anyway his childhood dog and something he would consider a best friend was wiped from the face of the Earth within a few seconds of meeting a Mutaglopian that Tommy would later shorten the name to Glopian. He runs across the roof, watching the slight shadows of his form as he runs. 

He was hoping his provisional jacket would keep him warm from the blistering winds, and freezing temperatures. As the roof was running out he was already preparing himself for his familiar traversal down the wall. He reached the edge of the roof and peered over the ledge to confirm there were no Glopians waiting in the general vicinity. Just as he suspected there were none to be seen, he knew that he had taken precautions in hopes of warding off and distracting the uncoordinated beings.

He started his descent by using the stuck out bricks and the holes in the wall. When he had first gotten to the area he had made sure there was no plausible way for the Glopians to climb up. Now safely, or as safely as he could be while being on the ground, he clicked on the wheels to his boots that he had scavaged from somebody who had the misfortune of running into a Glopian, in other words, a dead man. The wheels made traveling easier than if Tommy had just been walking and running. He would make better time, milage, and he was able to travel for longer periods of time.

When the moon was getting closer to the Earth, Tommy decided to stop and take a break when he found a convenient cave. As he approached the entrance he tossed a stone into the vast darkness, hoping it would draw out whatever could be hiding in the shadows. After a bit of time with no response he slunk in hoping to have a bite to eat. 

The cave felt endless as Tommy traversed through the tunnels, the further he went the brighter it got. Logically, he knew he should turn around and stick to the darkness, but like a moth to a flame, he drew closer. When he turned around what felt like the millionth corner, he could see a fire and a girl with brunette hair sitting on a stone facing the direction he had just come from. At the sight of him, she jumps up out of her seat, grabs a knife off her thigh, and tackles him, her knees on either side of his torso, knife at his throat.

“Woah Woah! Calm down,” Tommy says, putting his hands by his head, his voice deep from lack of use.

“Who are you and how’d you find me?” She questions, moving the knife closer to his throat to the point where it almost punctures his skin. 

“Hey, I’m just trying to survive, I came in here looking for a safe place to eat food,” he tries again.

“You didn’t say who you are,” she states, pushing the knife ever so closer, drawing the tiniest drop of crimson blood.

“I’m Tommy, I’m just trying to survive and I am not about to be killed by another human,” Tommy shouts. She looks like she’s contemplating his words and he’s about to speak up again when she moves the knife back from his throat. “Thank you.”

“You may be alive and you may be human, but I will not hesitate to kill you,” she says, standing up. She brushes off her knees before offering him a hand. 

“So what’s your name?” he asks as he takes her hand. 

“It’s not important,” she says, letting his hand go as soon as he’s upright. “You’re free to make your food, be warned no funny business or” she uses her knife to showcase his demise if he does not comply. He takes a seat opposite her, once she takes her seat, he opens his backpack, and grabs a packet of dry food. He sighs picturing what the food is supposed to be, bringing him back to the days of his childhood. He hated himself for thinking about it again so recently, especially now that there is someone around him, what he wouldn’t give to go back to a better time.

He stares deeply into the fire thinking about the many times he had cooked smores with his family and the laughter that would fill the night. 

“Why are you crying?” Tommy looks up from the fire to the girl, he lifts his fingers to his face, not breaking eye contact with her until he looks down at his now wet finger. 

“I… I don’t know, I haven’t cried in years,” Tommy says, quickly wiping the tears away using his sleeve. He looks deeply into the packet of rehydrated food, suddenly feeling his appetite disappear. 

“God, I’m going to regret this but how’d your survival story start,” she sighs, tossing a stick on the fire. 

“My survival story?”

“Are you serious? I mean how’d you survive the turning?”

“As you know it was December 31st, the last day of 2020, I, like many others, were celebrating the end of the awful year. Little did we know that we had much bigger problems than the presidential election or Coronavirus…”

Tommy had been 12 years old when the events of 2020 occurred and when his mom told him that he couldn’t go to the New Year’s party he wanted to go to they got into a huge argument. He snuck out and went anyway. It was there at the party when a country announced a nuclear war against America. At the time no one realized that this war would be the war to end all wars and much more. 

Tommy rushed home to see his family when he was walking in the door was when the alarms starting blaring. His family hadn’t been in the house, they had gone out looking for him. As the alarms got more urgent, he climbed down into the bomb shelter but left the door open in hopes that his parents would be able to make it. He held Butter close as he saw the shadowy figure approach the open door, the figure slammed the door shut.

He rushed up the stairs and started banging on the door as he heard the planes from above. He pleaded with his mother to come into the shelter but she didn’t listen it was too late. He heard his mother say she loves him as the bombs touched down in the distance.

“... most people died in the vicinity, including my mother, everyone else was mutated into Mutaglopians. Since that first bomb it’s been five years as you know,” Tommy explained, looking up from his food. 

“Mutaglopians?” She asks, raising an eye-brow.

“Those mutants outside, when you’re stuck alone, I started to live in my own head, to help keep me stable, I would narrate what I did,” Tommy flushes in embarrassment. “What about you what do you call them?”

“Cretins,” She replies tersely. 

“Oh come on that’s the best you have? What about something interesting?”

“What’s interesting about this situation? It doesn’t matter what we call them if they see me, or you -I guess-, we’re dead. Don’t you understand? There is nothing funny or interesting about death,” she says coldly.

“You’re right,” Tommy whispers, of course, he’s always known this, but it’s different than when he’s alone, something that became a better companion to Tommy than he’s comfortable admitting. There’s another pregnant silence as he stares into the fire. “What about you? What’s your survival story?”

“My story is much like yours but I was in the foster system. I had run away from them only a couple of weeks before the end of 2020. When I heard the alarms going off I found the closest cave. I was lucky enough to find a deep cave, much like this one, to take refuge in,” she mutters. “Unfortunately, I’ve been on my own since I was 11 years old.”

“That’s sad.”

“Well that is what life is now,” she says, standing up. “Are you going to finish that?” 

“No,” he says, handing her the packet of food. 

After another long moment of sileince she spoke again, “you know mentally we probably won’t last much longer without some form of companionship.”

“Are you offering a friendship?”

“Yes or no,” she deadpans, finishing the last bit of the food.

“I mean I don’t even know your name,” Tommy shrugs.

“It’s still not important, but you can call me Zale.”

“But that’s not your name is it.”

“No,” She said, taking something out of her bag. She pulls out a piece of cloth, a picture fluttering out of the bag. 

“What's that?” Tommy asks, standing up and snatching the picture before she’s able to grab it. “Who’s this?”

“Me before my world was destroyed, that’s my mama before she was diagnosed with cancer,” Zale says, snatching the worn picture from his hand.

“How old were you?”

“Nine, now stop asking questions,” Zale says, putting the cloths on the ground. “I don’t know about you but I’m going to bed. You should too the sun will be rising soon.”

“You sleep during the day as well?” Tommy asks, rumaging through his bag.

“Of course, it’s the only logical thing to do,” She says, pulling the blanket over herself, her back to the fire.

“Good point, good night, Zale,” Tommy says, wrapping himself in the blanket, hoping tonight he would get some good sleep. He hadn’t gone to bed warm in years so he was optimistic. 

When dusk came after they woke up and started traveling towards the nearest city, apperantly her mode of transportation was a skateboard. Even though the grounds are dirt and stone, the ground wasn’t the smoothest and it was hard to roll on. They still managed to make decent time and was quickly approaching the nearest city as the sun was starting to rise. They climbed the building closest to the outskirts of the city, hoping to sleep so they could scour for food at dusk. 

They were able to stay in the city for just one week before they were forced to move due to lack of food. It took three days to get to the next city, they were lucky enough to find a bunker they decided to hide out in the next city.

But it was in that city that things were going to go downhill. They were looking for a new, higher, place to stay in while they were in the city. During that time Tommy and Zale got too confident when they were running around too close to dawn. They were becoming more carefree together because they realized they were still teens even if the world was destroyed they decided that they still wanted to have fun. They paid for that though. 

They were climbing to check out a new place when disaster struck. A Glopian noticed them and stuck their tendril-like tongue through Zale’s back because she had started climbing after him. 

Tommy was just able to grab her hand before she was able to get too close to ever awaiting Glopian. He held on to her arm and with the little strength, she had left she wrapped her other arm around his body. 

Tommy laid her down on his makeshift jacket.

“Tommy, I know that we had our differences,” she coughs, placing a hand on the wound. “But no matter how much of a dork you are… I love you… ya know?”

“Did that have anything to do with me being the only human interaction you had, Zale?” Tommy struggles to hold back a chuckle as tears start streaming down his face.

“Lyra is my name… you earned it,” she smiles, putting her bloody hand on his face. Her head luls to the side and her hand falls back to her torso. He leans over her body, crying into her hair. After what felt like hours, he sits up, closing her eyes. He kisses her forehead before standing up.

It’s midday he realizes, he looks down below, and notices the group of Glopians below him. He takes one last look at Lyra’s corpse before wiping his tears, steps out of the hole. He lets himself free gall into the group of Glopians below him, knowing that he would be dead in a matter of seconds. 

He’d known one person in this hell that was his world and she was gone. After all, he couldn’t go back to being alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed lol...


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